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Rwanda captain, Djihad Bizimana has suggested that the likes of Nigeria and South Africa underestimated his team in Group C at the beginning of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
According to Bizimana, both the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana thought Group C was going to be easy for them when they played their first qualifying game.
Nigeria and South Africa were widely tipped to secure automatic spots for the 2026 World Cup, but as they approach the final matchday, their fates are no longer in their own hands.
Speaking at Monday’s press conference, Bizimana told reporters: “This group, from the beginning, if you look at first game, maybe you could see that Nigeria or South Africa thought it was going to be easy for them.
“Now this shows that the level of African competition is improving for every team, because if you are playing until the last game of the campaign, it means that every team in the group was a contender.
“That is a very good thing for Africa, and a very good thing for our team, because normally, most of the time, we are the underdogs – Rwanda, Lesotho, and Zimbabwe.
“Now you can see that until the last minute it is still open, so that is very good.”
Rwanda are now in fourth position in Group C and will face South Africa at the Mbombela Stadium on Tuesday.
2026 WCQ: Nigeria, South Africa underestimated us in Group C battle – Rwanda captain, Bizimana
